Customized classification of host bound traffic

Abstract

A network device component receives traffic, determines whether the traffic is host bound traffic or non-host bound traffic, and classifies, based on a user-defined classification scheme, the traffic when the traffic is host bound traffic. The network device component also assigns, based on the classification, the classified host bound traffic to a queue associated with network device component for forwarding the classified host bound traffic to a host component of the network device.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method comprising:
 receiving, by a network device, traffic; 
 determining, by the network device, whether the traffic is host bound traffic or non-host bound traffic; 
 determining, by the network device and based on a classification scheme defined by a user of the network device, a classification of the traffic when the traffic is host bound traffic; 
 determining, by the network device and when the traffic is host bound traffic, that a bandwidth is unavailable for forwarding the traffic to a host component of the network device; 
 assigning, by the network device and based on the classification, the traffic to a queue associated with the network device based on determining that the bandwidth is unavailable for forwarding the traffic to the host component; 
 determining, by the network device, that a different bandwidth is available for forwarding different traffic to the host component; and 
 forwarding, by the network device, the different traffic to the host component, without assigning the different traffic to any queue, based on determining that the different bandwidth is available for forwarding the different traffic to the host component. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 forwarding the traffic to an output port associated with the network device when the traffic is non-host bound traffic. 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , where assigning the traffic includes:
 determining a priority of the traffic based on the classification; 
 selecting the queue, from a plurality of queues, based on the priority of the traffic; and 
 assigning the traffic to the queue. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , where the network device includes one or more of:
 a gateway, 
 a switch, 
 a network interface card (NIC), 
 a hub, 
 a bridge, 
 a proxy server, or 
 an optical add-drop multiplexer (OADM). 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , where the network device includes a packet forwarding module. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , where the host component includes a component that exchanges topology information with other network devices. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , where, when the traffic is host bound traffic, the traffic includes one or more of:
 data link layer traffic, 
 network layer traffic, 
 protocol traffic, or 
 control traffic. 
 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , where the network device includes a firewall filter. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving, from the user, one or more changes to the classification scheme; and 
 changing the classification scheme based on the one or more changes. 
 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1 , where the classification scheme is based on default classifications that are pre-configured in the network device. 
     
     
       11. A network device comprising:
 one or more processors to: 
 receive traffic,
 determine whether the traffic is host bound traffic or non-host bound traffic, 
 determine, based on a classification scheme defined by a user of the network device, a classification of the traffic when the traffic is host bound traffic, 
 determine, when the traffic is host bound traffic, that a bandwidth is unavailable for forwarding the traffic to a host component of the network device, 
 assign, based on the classification, the traffic to a queue of a plurality of queues based on determining that the bandwidth is unavailable for forwarding the traffic to the host component of the network device, 
 determine that a different bandwidth is available for forwarding different traffic to the host component, and 
 forward the different traffic to the host component, without assigning the different traffic to any queue of the plurality of queues, based on determining that the different bandwidth is available for forwarding the different traffic to the host component. 
 
 
     
     
       12. The network device of  claim 11 , where the one or more processors are further to:
 forward the traffic to an output port when the traffic is non-host bound traffic. 
 
     
     
       13. The network device of  claim 11 , where the one or more processors are further to:
 forward, after assigning the traffic, the traffic from the queue to the host component when the bandwidth becomes available. 
 
     
     
       14. The network device of  claim 11 , where, when assigning the traffic, the one or more processors are to:
 determine a priority of the traffic based on the classification, 
 select the queue based on the priority of the traffic, and 
 assign the traffic to queue after selecting the one of the plurality of queues. 
 
     
     
       15. The network device of  claim 11 , where the host component includes a component that routes the traffic. 
     
     
       16. The network device of  claim 11 , where the one or more processors are further to:
 receive, from the user, one or more changes to the classification scheme, and 
 change the classification scheme based on the one or more changes. 
 
     
     
       17. The network device of  claim 11 , where the classification scheme is based on default classifications that are pre-configured in the network device. 
     
     
       18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, the instructions comprising:
 one or more instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a network device, cause the at least one processor to:
 receive traffic, 
 determine whether the traffic is host bound traffic or non-host bound traffic, 
 forward the traffic to an output port when the traffic is non-host bound traffic, 
 determine, based on a classification scheme defined by a user of the network device, a classification of the traffic when the traffic is host bound traffic, 
 determine, when the traffic is host bound traffic, whether a bandwidth is unavailable for forwarding the traffic to a host component of the network device, 
 assign, based on the classification, the traffic to a queue of a plurality of queues when the bandwidth is unavailable, 
 determine that a different bandwidth is available for forwarding different traffic to the host component, and 
 forward the different traffic to the host component, without assigning the different traffic to any queue of the plurality of queues, based on determining that the different bandwidth is available for forwarding the different traffic to the host component. 
 
 
     
     
       19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 18 , where the one or more instructions to determine whether the bandwidth is unavailable for forwarding the traffic includes:
 one or more instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:
 determine a bandwidth availability associated with forwarding the traffic to the host component, and 
 determine whether the bandwidth is unavailable for forwarding the traffic based on the bandwidth availability. 
 
 
     
     
       20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 18 , where the instructions further comprise:
 one or more instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:
 forward the traffic to the host component when the bandwidth is available.